Michigan State Football: All-time Spartan team
Defensive Lineman(1): Bubba Smith
Back when two-bar facemasks were cool, Bubba Smith was knocking the slobber out of ballcarriers. You might be wondering why a guy from Orange, Texas, would want to come up and play for the Michigan State Spartans back in the 1960s and that answer is simple: segregation in the south at the time was unbearable and led Smith to head north to better himself and his football career.
That ended up being the best decision he could have made, becoming one of the most feared defensive ends in all of college football and even helping the Spartans win national titles in 1965 and 1966 in his final two seasons with the school.
The phrase “Kill, Bubba, Kill” was chanted by Michigan State fans during his time there because of his predator-like presence on the defensive side of the ball that had offensive players running the other way.
Bubba wasn’t exactly a small figure, either. He stood about 6-foot-7 and weighed nearly 300 pounds while most offensive linemen during that time were not nearly as large as they are now — just look at how big Don Coleman was.
“The Game of the Century” against Notre Dame happened to be Smith’s final collegiate game as, famously, it ended in a 10-10 tie between the unbeaten Irish and 9-0 Spartans. His No. 95 was retired in 2006.
Smith had such a successful career at Michigan State that he was selected No. 1 overall in the 1967 NFL Draft, was named to two Pro Bowls and won a Super Bowl with the Colts in 1970.
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